- Knowledge of computer networking concepts and protocols, and network security methodologies.
- Knowledge of risk management processes (e.g., methods for assessing and mitigating risk).
- Knowledge of laws, regulations, policies, and ethics as they relate to cybersecurity and privacy.
- Knowledge of cybersecurity and privacy principles.
- Knowledge of cyber threats and vulnerabilities.
- Knowledge of specific operational impacts of cybersecurity lapses.
- Knowledge of computer algorithms.
- Knowledge of encryption algorithms
- Knowledge of database systems.
- Knowledge of organization's enterprise information security architecture.
- Knowledge of organization's evaluation and validation requirements.
- Knowledge of electrical engineering as applied to computer architecture (e.g., circuit boards, processors, chips, and computer hardware).
- Knowledge of resiliency and redundancy.
- Knowledge of installation, integration, and optimization of system components.
- Knowledge of human-computer interaction principles.
- Knowledge of cybersecurity and privacy principles and organizational requirements (relevant to confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, non-repudiation).
- Knowledge of information security systems engineering principles (NIST SP 800-160).
- Knowledge of information technology (IT) security principles and methods (e.g., firewalls, demilitarized zones, encryption).
- Knowledge of local area and wide area networking principles and concepts including bandwidth management.
- Knowledge of mathematics (e.g. logarithms, trigonometry, linear algebra, calculus, statistics, and operational analysis).
- Knowledge of microprocessors.
- Knowledge of network access, identity, and access management (e.g., public key infrastructure, Oauth, OpenID, SAML, SPML).
- Knowledge of operating systems.
- Knowledge of how traffic flows across the network (e.g., Transmission Control Protocol [TCP] and Internet Protocol [IP], Open System Interconnection Model [OSI], Information Technology Infrastructure Library, current version [ITIL]).
- Knowledge of parallel and distributed computing concepts.
- Knowledge of policy-based and risk adaptive access controls.
- Knowledge of Privacy Impact Assessments.
- Knowledge of process engineering concepts.
- Knowledge of secure configuration management techniques. (e.g., Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs), cybersecurity best practices on cisecurity.org).
- Knowledge of software development models (e.g., Waterfall Model, Spiral Model).
- Knowledge of software engineering.
- Knowledge of structured analysis principles and methods.
- Knowledge of system design tools, methods, and techniques, including automated systems analysis and design tools.
- Knowledge of system software and organizational design standards, policies, and authorized approaches (e.g., International Organization for Standardization [ISO] guidelines) relating to system design.
- Knowledge of system life cycle management principles, including software security and usability.
- Knowledge of systems testing and evaluation methods.
- Knowledge of telecommunications concepts (e.g., Communications channel, Systems Link Budgeting, Spectral efficiency, Multiplexing).
- Knowledge of the systems engineering process.
- Knowledge of Supply Chain Risk Management Practices (NIST SP 800-161)
- Knowledge of interpreted and compiled computer languages.
- Knowledge of information technology (IT) supply chain security and supply chain risk management policies, requirements, and procedures.
- Knowledge of critical infrastructure systems with information communication technology that were designed without system security considerations.
- Knowledge of network security architecture concepts including topology, protocols, components, and principles (e.g., application of defense-in-depth).
- Knowledge of network systems management principles, models, methods (e.g., end-to-end systems performance monitoring), and tools.
- Knowledge of service management concepts for networks and related standards (e.g., Information Technology Infrastructure Library, current version [ITIL]).
- Knowledge of security models (e.g., Bell-LaPadula model, Biba integrity model, Clark-Wilson integrity model).
- Knowledge of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) data security standards.
- Knowledge of Payment Card Industry (PCI) data security standards.
- Knowledge of Personal Health Information (PHI) data security standards.
- Knowledge of security management.
- Knowledge of an organization's information classification program and procedures for information compromise.
- Knowledge of countermeasure design for identified security risks.
- Knowledge of cryptology.
- Knowledge of embedded systems.
- Knowledge of Information Theory (e.g., source coding, channel coding, algorithm complexity theory, and data compression).
- Knowledge of network protocols such as TCP/IP, Dynamic Host Configuration, Domain Name System (DNS), and directory services.
- Knowledge of network design processes, to include understanding of security objectives, operational objectives, and trade-offs.
- Knowledge of access authentication methods.
Information Systems Security Developer
Designs, develops, tests, and evaluates information system security throughout the systems development life cycle.
- Skill in conducting vulnerability scans and recognizing vulnerabilities in security systems.
- Skill in designing countermeasures to identified security risks.
- Skill in designing security controls based on cybersecurity principles and tenets.
- Skill in designing the integration of hardware and software solutions.
- Skill in developing and applying security system access controls.
- Skill in discerning the protection needs (i.e., security controls) of information systems and networks.
- Skill in evaluating the adequacy of security designs.
- Skill in conducting audits or reviews of technical systems.
- Skill in integrating and applying policies that meet system security objectives.
- Skill in the use of design modeling (e.g., unified modeling language).
- Skill to apply cybersecurity and privacy principles to organizational requirements (relevant to confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, non-repudiation).
- Ability to identify systemic security issues based on the analysis of vulnerability and configuration data.
- Ability to apply the methods, standards, and approaches for describing, analyzing, and documenting an organization's enterprise information technology (IT) architecture (e.g., Open Group Architecture Framework [TOGAF], Department of Defense Architecture Framework [DoDAF], Federal Enterprise Architecture Framework [FEAF]).
- Ability to ask clarifying questions.
- Ability to communicate complex information, concepts, or ideas in a confident and well-organized manner through verbal, written, and/or visual means.
- Ability to conduct vulnerability scans and recognize vulnerabilities in security systems.
- Ability to produce technical documentation.
- Ability to analyze test data.
- Ability to translate data and test results into evaluative conclusions.
- Ability to apply network security architecture concepts including topology, protocols, components, and principles (e.g., application of defense-in-depth).
- Ability to apply secure system design tools, methods and techniques.
- Ability to apply system design tools, methods, and techniques, including automated systems analysis and design tools.
- Ability to ensure security practices are followed throughout the acquisition process.
- Ability to design architectures and frameworks.
- Ability to collaborate effectively with others.
- Ability to function in a collaborative environment, seeking continuous consultation with other analysts and experts—both internal and external to the organization—to leverage analytical and technical expertise.
- Ability to participate as a member of planning teams, coordination groups, and task forces as necessary.
- Ability to understand objectives and effects.
- Ability to understand the basic concepts and issues related to cyber and its organizational impact.
- Ability to apply cybersecurity and privacy principles to organizational requirements (relevant to confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, non-repudiation).
- Ability to identify critical infrastructure systems with information communication technology that were designed without system security considerations.
- Analyze design constraints, analyze trade-offs and detailed system and security design, and consider life cycle support.
- Apply security policies to applications that interface with one another, such as Business-to-Business (B2B) applications.
- Assess the effectiveness of cybersecurity measures utilized by system(s).
- Assess threats to and vulnerabilities of computer system(s) to develop a security risk profile.
- Build, test, and modify product prototypes using working models or theoretical models.
- Conduct Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) of the application's security design for the appropriate security controls, which protect the confidentiality and integrity of Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
- Design and develop cybersecurity or cybersecurity-enabled products.
- Design hardware, operating systems, and software applications to adequately address cybersecurity requirements.
- Design or integrate appropriate data backup capabilities into overall system designs, and ensure that appropriate technical and procedural processes exist for secure system backups and protected storage of backup data.
- Develop and direct system testing and validation procedures and documentation.
- Develop detailed security design documentation for component and interface specifications to support system design and development.
- Develop Disaster Recovery and Continuity of Operations plans for systems under development and ensure testing prior to systems entering a production environment.
- Develop risk mitigation strategies to resolve vulnerabilities and recommend security changes to system or system components as needed.
- Develop specific cybersecurity countermeasures and risk mitigation strategies for systems and/or applications.
- Identify components or elements, allocate security functions to those elements, and describe the relationships between the elements.
- Identify and direct the remediation of technical problems encountered during testing and implementation of new systems (e.g., identify and find work-arounds for communication protocols that are not interoperable).
- Identify and prioritize essential system functions or sub-systems required to support essential capabilities or business functions for restoration or recovery after a system failure or during a system recovery event based on overall system requirements for continuity and availability.
- Identify, assess, and recommend cybersecurity or cybersecurity-enabled products for use within a system and ensure that recommended products are in compliance with organization's evaluation and validation requirements.
- Implement security designs for new or existing system(s).
- Incorporate cybersecurity vulnerability solutions into system designs (e.g., Cybersecurity Vulnerability Alerts).
- Perform risk analysis (e.g., threat, vulnerability, and probability of occurrence) whenever an application or system undergoes a major change.
- Provide guidelines for implementing developed systems to customers or installation teams.
- Provide input to the Risk Management Framework process activities and related documentation (e.g., system life-cycle support plans, concept of operations, operational procedures, and maintenance training materials).
- Store, retrieve, and manipulate data for analysis of system capabilities and requirements.
- Provide support to security/certification test and evaluation activities.
- Utilize models and simulations to analyze or predict system performance under different operating conditions.
- Design and develop key management functions (as related to cybersecurity).
- Analyze user needs and requirements to plan and conduct system security development.
- Develop cybersecurity designs to meet specific operational needs and environmental factors (e.g., access controls, automated applications, networked operations, high integrity and availability requirements, multilevel security/processing of multiple classification levels, and processing Sensitive Compartmented Information).
- Ensure that security design and cybersecurity development activities are properly documented (providing a functional description of security implementation) and updated as necessary.
- Implement and integrate system development life cycle (SDLC) methodologies (e.g., IBM Rational Unified Process) into development environment.
- Employ configuration management processes.
- Design, implement, test, and evaluate secure interfaces between information systems, physical systems, and/or embedded technologies.
- Design, develop, integrate, and update system security measures that provide confidentiality, integrity, availability, authentication, and non-repudiation.
- Design to security requirements to ensure requirements are met for all systems and/or applications.
- Develop mitigation strategies to address cost, schedule, performance, and security risks.
- Perform an information security risk assessment.
- Perform security reviews and identify security gaps in architecture.
- Provide input to implementation plans and standard operating procedures as they relate to information systems security.
- Trace system requirements to design components and perform gap analysis.
- Verify stability, interoperability, portability, and/or scalability of system architecture.